“Only a beast would act in such a disgusting way. Where’s your manners Greyback?!” he taunted the hairy looking man, who sat a table away from them, and had his face buried in a bowl as he ate his meal.
“Are you a dog? Do you like eating like that?” he continued.
“Stop it John! He’s a werewolf!” his wife said in a hush hush manner.
“It’s not a full moon honey, what can he do?” John asked casually as he ruffled his son’s hair.
Instantaneously, John got up from his seat and headed towards the hairy man. And to no surprise, a few men followed behind him.
“Your kind isn’t welcomed in this town. I suggest you pack your bags and leave once you’re done giving yourself a food facial.” John chuckled and the men behind him roared in false laughter.
It was then that Greyback stood up and shoved his table forward, sending the men stumbling backwards.
Greyback gave a low growl as he eyed one men to another, and when his eyes fell on the innocent young boy at the corner of a table, who was looking half terrified, a small smile crept across his greasy face.
It was a brief moment, but as the boy stared back into that man’s eyes, a shiver ran down his spine. The hairy man was eyeing him hungrily as though he was the main course, and the food he stuck his face into earlier was just the appetizer.
“What are you looking at?!” John shouted at Greyback when he noticed him staring at his son.
“Dinner,” his rough, deep voice, replied softly.
“You leave right now!” John bravely shoved Greyback, who was 2 times his size.
“Or what?” Greyback did not even flinch.
“We’ll have wolf meat for dinner!” a small, scrawny old man boldly answered, and as the crowd in the little tavern shouted in agreement, he didn’t look so small anymore.
As one by one the people stood up, Greyback chuckled to himself. And with a cynical grin, he left.
A few days after the werewolf left town, the young boy, who briefly made eye contact with the creature of the night, decided to believe his father’s promises that the hairy man would not return.
It was only then that he bravely ran out of his home to play with his friends in the forest nearby.
“Where have you been?” one of his friends asked.
“Yea! We’ve been wondering why you never showed yesterday, and the day before. We thought you were kidnapped!” another said, as he playfully jabbed him in the arm.
“I wasn’t kidnapped, I was just sick,” the boy lied.
“Ok! Now that you’re back, lets go!”
The three boys spent the entire day by a small river, getting themselves wet as they chased one another. Their playful shouts and laughter had sent all the birds away, including the sun later in the day.
“I have to go home now,” one of his friend said with a sigh.
“Go then,” the boy replied.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“No. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” he answered shortly as he waved his friends goodbye.
He realized how stupid he was for fearing the hairy man. He had missed all the fun he could have had with his friends and now he forced himself to make up for it as he sat by a rock, taking in the nocturnal view of the forest.
The moon was finally up and the birds were back. It was peaceful enough for him to fall asleep right there and then. But when something made a loud suspicious snap, it turned the peaceful forest into a dangerous one.
“Who’s there?” he asked, as his eyes darted around.
“It’s me,” a rough deep voice spoke, hidden behind a tree.
“Who are you?”
A big shadow came looming over him as a man came out into the light.
“Remember me?”
The boy gulped. It felt as though he was in his worst nightmare, but he knew very well that he wasn’t. He didn’t bother taking a second to think as he started running.
As he made his way under branches and over roots, he could hear the man’s evil laughter behind him. He knew that if he stopped running, the man would grab him and eat him, and so he forced his short legs to keep moving.
When he finally saw street lights, he unknowingly stopped to take a breather. And that was when he heard something howl. The boy stared into the darkness, trying to see where the sound came from, and before he knew it, a beast came charging at him. It’s big, claw like hands, grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him into the air.
He tried to shake himself free but the ugly, hairy beast was too strong, and before his screams could escape his lungs, the beast bit into his thigh.
Morning came with the shrieking cry of a young girl that led the entire town to where the body of the boy lay. But to everyone’s surprise, he was still alive, barely surviving in his own pool of blood. The werewolf only bit his thigh, but the amount of blood he lost gave him 3 weeks at St. Mungo’s.
And though his parent’s were relieved that he was no longer missing or dead, they had another issue to worry about. What will happen to their son when the next full moon arrives? How will they stop their little Remus from turning into the creature that bit him?
Questions kept ringing in their heads as they watched their precious son sleep. Their only regret was the memory of stepping out of line with a werewolf.
Jeyna Grace 